Here's a picture I took of our share. And just one more reminder, if you go to my CSA Flickr set, I have notes on some of the pictures, identifying what's what:

So excited to get that asparagus -- I was beginning to think we might never get any!! Oh, and the vase on the right has some of the lovely pink roses from our garden. I just love this time of year :o)

From last time, we didn't get through the Swiss chard, so I'm determined to finish off the mustard greens and kale quickly, so that doesn't happen again. I really don't want anything to go to waste. We did make a pasta dish with the chorizo, which was great - since we were able to use the mushrooms, chorizo, fresh angel hair pasta ... I served it with a big salad made from the greens and the rosemary slipper bread, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was a great dinner.

Last night I made some salmon fillets, cooked the asparagus and served it along side some yellow saffron rice. We also had some slices of the fresh bread. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying the fabulous meals were getting from our CSA!

From this share, I think I'm going to make some homemade pasta sauce with those canned tomatoes, and use the fresh radiattore. I still have some mozzarella, so I may make a little tomato, basil, mozzarella salad to go with it.

Still need to find a recipe for the ground lamb and will need to come up with something for the stew meat. But I'm excited about trying new things!!

May 14, 2009

Satchel. It's such a great word. Reminds me of a scene from Psych ... here's where I would show a clip from the episode "Bounty Hunters," but alas, I have been foiled in my attempts to find said video. Here's a transcript outlining the relevant repartee, but it probably/definitely loses something in the translation:

Shawn Spencer: Is this a briefcase or an attaché?Burton 'Gus' Guster: I think it's a briefcase. Attachés have a softer shell.Shawn Spencer: Really? That's all that differentiates them, a softer shell?Burton 'Gus' Guster: Well, "attaché" does have a better ring to it.Shawn Spencer: Let's go with attaché. ...Shawn Spencer: Attaché sounds pretentious, dude.Burton 'Gus' Guster: Well, it could be the way you're saying it.Shawn Spencer: You say it.Burton 'Gus' Guster: Attaché....Carlton Lassiter: [to Byrd] Hand over the satchel.Shawn Spencer: Ooh, satchel! I didn't think of that one.

ANYWAY ... since I'm probably the only one that watches that show, let's move on.

As I have mentioned here ad infinitum, we are going to England next month for two weeks. We'll be in London for a few days, then we'll take the train up north to visit my grandparents (and meet up with my parents) for the remainder of the trip. Very, very excited.

Over the past few months I've been trying to get everything together, so we're not running around at the last minute. This also helps in sort of spreading the cost of things - that way we're not having to spend oodles of money right before we depart.

I've been wanting to get the hubs a leather messenger bag that he can use on the trip: something that would serve as a carry-on, but also would be manageable enough to use as sort of a "day pack" when we were out and about: i.e. something large enough to carry our DSLR camera if I didn't feel like carrying it ;o)

Because I thought he'd use it during our trip, we didn't want anything too bulky or wide. Banana Republic had a great "camera bag" that I thought might work -- but I wasn't sure about the the closure on it. Plus, when I inspected it in the store, there were no inner organization pockets - nothing for pens or his iPod/iPhone. And it was a little on the small size -- which was veering into "manpurse" territory.

Their messsenger bag, on the other hand, was a little too big -- specifically, too wide. Plus, it suffered from that irritating habit of online store: no pictures of the inside of the bag. This frustrates the heck out of me when I'm trying to buy a purse for myself. I did look at the interior of this one in the store as well, but I have no memory of what I found. I think there was a similar lack of interior organizational pockets. Not to mention it was just too expensive.

It's a vertical messenger, which is perfect, since the majority of it's capacity comes from its height rather than its width/length. It's tall enough to fit my 17" laptop when inserted vertically - but when I tried it on, it's not wider than my butt, which is perfect - I didn't test it on the hubs' butt - but I would imagine similar results, since his is pretty cute ... ;o)

And while Amazon didn't have extra pictures, eBags did, plus helpful descriptions noting "organizational pockets." The price was still probably more than I would normally pay, however we have a bunch of Amazon gift certificates from our rewards credit card, so we were able to get this and actually a bunch of other items for free, which is always preferable.

The leather is really nice and soft -- the interior is lined and there's space for a cell phone, electronics, an ID, you name it -- plus a couple of zippered pockets.

So, we're both pretty happy with this. I think it would make a nice briefcase, too -- or should I say attaché?

May 07, 2009

Yesterday was the week 3 pickup for our CSA with Fair Shares. We alternate with another couple, so this was only our second share. Here's what was included for our group this week:

Prairie Grass Ground Lamb

Herbs en Route Sage

Ozark Forest Fresh Mushrooms

Claverach Radish Shoots

Yellow Wood Swiss Chard

Yellow Dog Lettuce Mix

Mangia Angel Hair Pasta

Trillium Farm Goat Mozzarella

Mississippi Mud Coffee

Companion Bread (choice between Rosemary Slipper and Rustic Olive - I opted for the Rosemary)

I also picked up a jar of Gringo Salsa (Hot!) and San Luis Tortilla Chips - both were delicious. There are always a lot of "extras" that you can buy in addition to the contents of your share. The CSA coordinators keep a running tally of what you pickup then bill you at the end of the month, which is really handy. You can also swap/trade for items that you don't want or like, but I haven't needed to do that yet :o)

I don't think I mentioned this in my previous CSA post, but the first week I also picked up a jar of locally made Apple Cider Vinegar - I sprinkle it over our dogs' food at each meal (it has lots of health benefits for dogs - well, and humans, too!).

Here's a picture I took of our share. And just another reminder, if you go to my CSA Flickr set, I have notes on some of the pictures, identifying what's what:

From our previous share, we still have the chorizo sausage left - which I froze. We got through most of the greens and the mushrooms (delish.) - we still have some chevre left, but I think it still should be good. Oh, and most of the eggs, but I'm sure I'll use those up soon. I made a pasta dish last week with the Swiss chard ribs and the mushrooms, it was amazing.

Honestly, I was worried about the volume of food - but as of now, it's pretty manageable. I'm sure as we progress into the summer and fall harvesting seasons, the amount will increase - but for now I'm very comfortable - it doesn't feel like too much for two people.

Oh, and if you're curious, here's what was included in our group's share last week - this is what our share partner took home (hope we get some asparagus soon!):

American Grassfed Beef-Ground

Herbs en Route Spearmint

Claverach Sunflower Shoots

Theis Family Farm Spinach

Yellow Dog Lettuce Mix

Scharf Asparagus

Heartland Legacy Cheese

MO Grain Project Flour

River Hills Poultry Alliance Eggs

Lee Farm Sweet Potatoes or

Martin Long Grain Rice

Jasbo’s Salsa

San Luis Tortilla Chips

Companion Multi Grain Rolls

Tonight I think I'm going to make angel hair pasta with chorizo and mushrooms. I took the sausage out the thaw last night, so it should be ready for dinner this evening. I'll make a big salad, too - and serve it with the rosemary slipper bread (isn't that a great name?). Maybe a little fresh mozzarella on top?

Just need to find a good way to use the radish shoots and the ground lamb ... I'm thinking of maybe some sort of Greek dish for the lamb, but not sure yet.